William Walter SINSER

SINSER, William Walter
May 23, 1927 – August 27, 2017
"Dear Baba, altho we have heavy hearts, and are very sad that you are gone, just please know that all the lessons you taught us, and all the wonderful memories we have of you, we will cherish forever, and, as always, with love".....
Yep, I finally died - what a life I had! Boy, was it full – where do I start! Well, ok, let's start at the beginning – that would be St. Boniface, Manitoba, May 23, 1927, when I was born to mother, Sonia, and father, Jules. Apparently, when I was around 2 years old, we moved out to Vancouver and settled on the west side. Turns out, I was to be an only child. I was a latch-key kid, largely left on my own, and therefore, I kind of excelled in mischief. Well, and sports. Like, forget academics at that point, but sports. I was fiercely competitive – that trait lasted until my dying day, literally - I was on the Kits High School basketball team, the Vancouver Meralomas football team, I played rugby, give me a golf club or a diving platform at a pool, and I seemed to excel. (Is poker a sport? I have very fond memories of sitting under the big tree at Kits with my buddies, the Thodos and Pantages brothers playing many a game of poker. Turns out, all that practice would pay off later in life – more on that in a bit...)
Yes, my young life was turbulent. To the point that I thought I'd be happier living with my Aunt Mary, so I decided to hitchhike to her place. That was 1,500 miles away in Manitoba. When I arrived there, I was promptly put on a train back to Vancouver.
Then, at age 23-ish, thanks to my dear friends Ross and Cecil, I met my dear Evelyn, and WOW, did my life take a change! – More adventure - actually, more like a fairy tale. We built a wonderful life. We married in 1952 and lived at 19th and McDonald for a short while before moving onto 2 acres out in 'the sticks' (North Burnaby) - she helped me study and pass the real estate exam, I won't get into those details, but anyway, in the mid-50's, I created William Sinser Realty in Burnaby – at its height, I had 80 salesmen working for me, in three locations (North Van, Burnaby and Delta); I also was in land development, and then there was the mortgage company. I was very prominent in the real estate scene in the lower mainland. As if that didn't keep us busy enough, we also had Sinser's Boarding Kennels, as a sideline business (boarding dogs and cats). My love for dogs, especially Labrador retrievers, paved the path to create our sideline business. Well, also, at the same time, I got into breeding labs and competing in Labrador retriever trials (Harry, thanks for spending all those days out in the fields throwing decoys); my dearly beloved Sinser's Bulldozer of Crevamoy ('Bulldozer", or 'Dozer") won the 1958 National retriever trial championship. What a thrill and adventure! During that phase of my life, I also enjoyed going back to the prairies on duck and/or pheasant hunting expeditions with my buddies – Ray, George, Kenny, etc.
While all this was going on, actually starting in the late '50s, Ev and I also had adventures south of the border – Las Vegas! Remember I mentioned the poker games under the big tree in Kits? Well, that groomed me for our stints in Las Vegas – oh, the Sahara, Riviera and other hotels/casinos – turns out I had the uncanny knack for 'remembering' cards that had previously been played as I was playing the black Jack and/or poker tables. That helped me win. And win. And win. My biggest talent in this department was I knew when to walk away – and always a winner. That kept the casino hotels inviting us back; in the end, I was the winner, but what an adventure. We also were treated to shows (loved the Rat Pack!), boxing matches, etc., anything to get us down there so the casinos could try to win their money back. Never happened – what an adventure!
I also hosted 'game nite' (poker, etc.) at our home in Burnaby – attended by the likes of the (then) members of the B.C. Lions (which used to tick Ev off, because they were so heavy, they'd squish the little card table chairs we had to sit on, and Ev was continuously having to go out and buy new chairs). Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
Also in the mid and late '50s, our family grew by 2 – we had Sandy in 1956 and Brenda in 1959. Sandy was determined and accomplished achieving gold medal test status in Ice Dance in Canada and the U.S. I put many many miles on the car(s) getting her to and from the rink(s) over the years. Brenda, turned out, was a natural equestrian – that all started, actually, with getting Sandy a pony (General Montgomery) when she was 3 years old. Then, when daughter Brenda was old enough (like, 3), Sandy got a new pony, and Brenda got Monty. The rest, you could say, is history. In a nutshell, over the years, I supplied the horses (mainly well-bred quarter horses), Brenda contributed the equestrian talent, and we, together, as a team, 'cleaned up' show after show after show. That's why, in the mid-'70s, we moved from our family home in North Burnaby to 30 acres in Langley– to accommodate more and more horses! Those were the equestrian glory days but just living on the farm was an adventure - everything from raising beef cattle to hosting huge cocktail parties, complete with bartenders and bouncers!
Retracting back a bit, i.e., when, the girls were young, I dragged Evelyn and the girls up to Loon Lake on many a fishing trip. I loved fishing! Ev patiently put in her time, sleeping on hay in the back of a pickup truck numerous trips; one time, I took the girls up to the lake – we really roughed it – they returned home in the same clothes they left in, their hair hadn't been brushed in a week, Ev was mortified, but we did have fun away – yet another adventure for the memory books!
As mentioned, Ev did put in her time with the little aluminum car-topper fishing boat used on Loon Lake; as she patiently waited it out, the boats got bigger – 18' Sabrada I, 32' Sabrada II, and finally, our 45' Sabrada III. By then, we were ocean-going, and spent a lot of time up in the Pender Harbour area – jigging for herring, which we would use the next day for salmon fishing – Quarry Bay, the A-frame, Egemont, clamming and crabbing in the bays of the west coast of Texada – Sandy learnedto water-ski in Gunboat Bay – great memories and more adventures!
Oh, another adventure – I had my pilot's licence! I flew Piper Cherokees around here and there. Well, that sort of came to an abrupt end when, my buddy, Ray, and I were on our way down to the desert, probably Vegas - all of a sudden, a thunderstorm erupted around us, and I had to bring the plane down, which I did, very safely. We taxied over to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere to find out that we were actually 180 miles away from where I thought my instruments had told us we had landed. With that, Evelyn, who was back home, said it was either her or the pilot's licence. Well, I loved Evelyn more, so that was the end of the pilot's licence.
I decided to retire in 1990 from real estate; our equestrian days had wound down, and by now, Evelyn and I had started our cruising regime – to mainly warm weather places – the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii, Tahiti – we did our best to keep the cruiselines in business! also by then we had been blessed with two grandchildren – Brandon and Brittany. In 1993, we did a family trip – Sandy, Brenda, Brandon, Bitty, Evelyn and I – that was an adventure in itself – we cruised from Vancouver to LA and then spent 4 days in Disneyland – a grandparent's dream trip! After that, Ev and I enjoyed a couple of trips down to Club Med Ixtapa with Auntie Sandy and the grandchildren - wonderful times were had by all. We also enjoyed immense everyday life with the grandkids – taking them to gymnastics, piano, little league baseball, soccer, skating, sleepovers up at the farm, etc.
In 1996, my life took a shattering turn for the sad, as that was when my dear Evelyn passed away. Things were kind of quiet for me for a while; things just weren't the same. I did my best to show up on Friday afternoons with fellow ranchers at 'the shack', continue my weekly pub lunches with Dale and the boys, and play a large role in the lives of Brandon and Bitty. Well, never one to give up, by 1998, I kind of got the wind back into my sails. I suggested to daughter Sandy, and good family friend Cecil that we go on a cruise in memory of Evelyn, and so we did. It was wonderful, and actually started a new cruise regime for me – I became 'Keeper of the Village' on the back end of the HAL Lido decks – every year after that, daughter Sandy and I hit the high seas right up until I had my (moderate) stroke on Xmas Day, 2006. Things came to a bit of a grinding halt at that point; but, again, my determination and competitiveness pulled through, and after surgery and a month or so of rehab, I was allowed to return home to the farm. Well, that started a whole new chapter of adventure in my life – my bevy of caregivers!!!!!
3 years later, the time came for me to downsize, so the farm was sold, and a condo in Burnaby became my new home. Not just any condo, though, it was a beautiful south view 20th floor penthouse – talk about living life at the top! Wow! My caregivers, to start, were only part-time, but that eventually graduated to 24/7 – which became a 3-year long pyjama party – right up until The End!
Thanx to Sandy for setting it up so I could do The End 'my way' – at home and comfortably, and with my 2 angel caregivers, Katleen and Cora, with me during my final moments.
I have wonderful memories of my life – all the friends and acquaintances made over the years; the championships in everything from diving to dog trials to horse shows; my real estate company and various sideline businesses thru the years; my beautiful wife Ev, our daughters Sandy and Brenda, our grandchildren Brandon and Brittany; I wish Ev was still with us to have met our great-grandsons, Christopher and Braydon. She would be so proud! And....I was 'Uncle bill' to Mike, Steve and Robbie, when they needed an 'Uncle Bill' in their lives. To you three, I just want to say that you were as important to me in my life, as I was in yours. You all gave me some really great memories. And then there were our long-time and closest family friends – Ross, Cecil, Lefty, Shirley; I was truly blessed to have had them in my lives. Shirley, you are the last of us – thank you so much for our friendship all these years.
Just celebrate me in your own way – have a glass of chardonnay, a dry red, a Caesar, a beer, play a round of golf, go fishing. My favourite color was red, so when you wear red, you can think of me. :)
It is a blessing and a heartbreak all at the same time, but I also wanted to say 'thank you' to Dr. Collis Wilson (retired) who was my long-time family doctor; more recently Dr. Michael Lee who took care of me until the end; also Drs. Jain and Mian at the New West Seniors Geriatric Clinic who provided super specialized care over the years; and all the members of 'Team Baba' – there were many through the years, including starting with Val and Marit in Langley... to Bev... to dear Imelda... always smiling Katleen, and finally to my wonderful Cora. I couldn't have made it to 90 without all of your help over the past 10 years!
So what about a Funeral, or Service, or Celebration of Life, you ask? Ok, it's no secret that I liked attention, but I was also a very private person. For that reason, I have requested that there will not be a service. But, guess what? The adventure isn't quite over yet! Together, with my dear Evelyn, our ashes are to be dispersed in places that were very dear to us... in Western Canada, Western U.S., and well, yes, also somewhere out on the high seas, in warm, sunny and happy places – I can hardly wait!!
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.glenhavenmemorialchapel.com